Magnetic lading restraining clip

ABSTRACT

A clip or hook assembly for use with a pin-like anchor assembly mounted in the side of a railcar for grasping the anchor assembly. The hook is part of a restraining system used to restrain lading loaded and shipped in the railcar. The hook includes a body port having a central aperture for receiving a magnet assembly which can be positioned against the anchor assembly for securing the hook to the anchor and the railcar sidewall.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based on U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/582,786 filed Jun. 25, 2004. The priority and benefits of said provisional application are claimed herein.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates to a web-type lading restraint for use in rail cars and more particularly to a mechanism for securing the restraint to the car and maintaining the restraint attached to the car when not in use.

Lading of various types is shipped in railcars. In one common form, this lading is in large rolls of paper and in another form can be cartons of merchandise that is suitable for rail shipment. Commonly, lading is loaded into one end of the car (i.e., against an end wall and side walls of the car) and needs to be restrained against movement and damage that might occur during coupling, shipment and the like.

One restraint system includes a web or strap-like member where a pair of web portions are buckled together at their inner ends at about the center of the lading. The other or outer end of each strap is secured to a clip or hook that engages an anchor in each sidewall.

In operation, the strap extends across the exposed face of the lading, is secured to each sidewall by one of the clips or hooks engaging a sidewall anchor and thus restrains lading movement.

Sidewall anchors of various kinds are frequently already installed in the car. One type of anchor is known as a dog bone anchor which includes a depressed well-like member positioned in the sidewall and secured to the car. Part of the anchor includes a central generally vertical post with enlarged ends. The hook fits about the post.

With the hooks anchored, the strap is tightened against the lading using the center buckle arrangement.

Upon arrival, the buckle is released, the web portions are released and the lading is off-loaded. The straps are stored by maintaining the hook-anchor securement and thus hang from the railcar sidewalls for future use.

An issue is how to maintain the hook secured to the anchor as the hook and web portions can be lost or misplaced if not fixed in place. Another issue relates to the hook being usable with commercially available dog bone style anchors which are already installed in the railroad car by the railroad car manufacturer at his choice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A strap-type restraint system is provided for use in a railroad car to restrain lading therein. The strap-type restraint includes a clip or hook at each end that engages a dog-bone style anchor in the respective sidewall. The anchor includes a vertical post portion for grasping by the hook. The hook includes a magnetic assembly for securing the hook to the sidewall and the anchor.

Additional objects and features of this invention will became apparent from the following description and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the end of a railcar with rolls of lading restrained by several straps;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an entire railcar with lading and taken generally along a line such as 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the dog bone style anchor;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3 showing the anchor in a railcar side post;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view showing a pair of hooks, each engaging an anchor and connected together with a web, and a ring-type connector or suspender mechanism for attaching the connector web to the main portion of the restraining belt;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a hook;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the hook taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 is a view like FIG. 1 showing the car end empty and the straps in a stored position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, there is seen a railcar 10 which includes a pair of sidewalls 12, 14, a floor 16, a roof 18 and an end wall 20. Each of the sidewalls includes a plurality of vertical side posts such as 22, 24, 26, 28, 30 and 32.

Roll-type lading such as 34 and 36 rests on the floor and is loaded against the end wall and side walls. The lading is restrained in position by three strap systems 38, 40 and 42, each of which is generally horizontal and parallel to the floor. Each strap system is secured at opposite outer ends to one of the side walls and includes strap portions such as 38 a and 38 b whose inner ends (not shown) are buckled together and tightened together by a buckle such as 38 c at the center of the lading. Such buckles can be obtained from Kinedyne Corporation, 151 Industrial Parkway, P.O. Box 5207, North Branch, N.J. 08876-5207 and can be of the type sold as Part No. 804.

The dog bone anchor assembly 44 generally is seen in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. The assembly includes a well-like member 46 and an upright or vertical post 48. The well-like member 46 is positioned in a side-wall such as 12 and within the recess formed by a vertical side post such as 24. The well-like member includes side webs such as 50 and 52 which join to the back wall 54 and the railroad car side wall 12. Positioned in the well-like member is the vertical post member 48 that includes a central hook-grasping body section 58 and enlarged ends 60 and 62. The post 48 has a dog bone or bar bell-like shape.

The post 48 also includes a pair of rear strut-like formations 64 and 66 that engage the back wall 54 and space the post from the back wall and relative to the side wall 12. The post's enlarged ends 60 and 62 are welded to the webs 50 and 52 so as to position the post 48 within the well-like member 46.

The clip or hook 70 is seen in FIGS. 6, 7, 8 and 9. It will be appreciated that the hook 70 is secured to the strap portion, such as 38 a, at the straps outer end.

In FIG. 6 an alternative lading restraining system is shown whereby two (2) hooks 70 and 170 are secured together by a connector web such as 171 which is connected to a single (I) lading restraining strap system, such as 38. This use of two (2) hooks effectively divides the load and reduces the load carried by each hook. The hooks are the same whether used in (a) the primary system as in FIG. 1 (where there is one (1) hook at each end of the strap) or the alternative system of FIG. 6 (where there are two (2) hooks at each end of the strap).

In some situations, such as a heavy load or wide principal web, it is desirable to employ two hooks at each end of the restraint. This alternative approach is shown in FIG. 6 where two hooks such as 70 and 170 are connected to each other by a connector web 171 that passes through a ring-like suspender 172, that is secured to the end of a primary strap such as 173 which can be wider than a connector strap. As indicated above this is a system whereby the load is split between two hooks rather than being carried by one hook. Thus the retainer system is secured in place by two hooks per side. That would be four hooks (two on each side) per lading restraining system. Using this system the principal straps can be larger so as to restrain a larger load. However, whether the system was one (1) or two (2) hooks per side, the hooks are essentially identical.

A clip or hook such as 70 includes a body portion 72. At one end of the body portion 72 is a web receiving slot 74 and at the other end is a reverse bent or curved portion 76 that forms the grasping portion of the hook. It is noted that the body adjacent the curved portion 76 is tapered so that the grasping portion is smaller than the body portion.

The hook 70 and particularly the curved portion 76 is constructed to grasp the post 48 as seen in FIG. 7, fit around the post 48 with part in the space defined by the post 48 and back wall 54 and between the strut-like formations 60 and 62.

The center of the hook body 72 defines a hole or aperture 78 in which is positioned a disk-shaped magnet assembly 80. The assembly 80 includes a round steel cup 82 within which is positioned a doughnut shaped magnet 84. The cup can be pressed into the hole 78 and/or welded to the body 72 so as to secure it in position. The magnet 84 can be of a ceramic material that exhibits 30 pounds nominal force. Such a magnet can be purchased from Dexter Magnetic Technologies, Inc., 1050 Morse Avenue, Elk Grove Village, Ill. 60007 as model RB-50. It is understood that the magnet is attracted to the steel dog bone anchor assembly 44, the well-like member 46, the post 48 and the sidewall 12 so as to securely position hook 70 against the anchor and sidewall when in use and when not in use. The magnet 84 is recessed in the cup 82 so that the magnet face 84 a is positioned behind the edges of the cup and thus protected. The magnetic attraction is between the cup, the anchor and the sidewall. At the end of the trip after the lading has been off-loaded, strap portions such as 38 a and 38 b are unbuckled and can be stored by hanging in place with the magnet 84 holding the strap and hook 70 against the well-like member 46 and side wall 12. Moreover, it will be appreciated that this hook 70 can be used with many different anchors so long as they are of a general construction as described above.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, numerous modifications and changes can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. 

1. A clip for use in restraining lading and securing a web or strap to a lading carrying vehicle when in use or when in a storage position, comprising: A. a body which defines (1) a hook-like grasping structure at one end of the body to secure the clip to the vehicle; (2) a slot at the other end of the body, opposed to the hook-like grasping structure, and constructed to receive an end of a web; (3) a centrally positioned magnet receiving opening between the ends of the body for receiving a magnet assembly therein, B. a magnet assembly for receipt in said opening and securement to the body; C. whereby the hook-like grasping structure can restrainingly engage said vehicle when in use and the magnet assembly can hold the clip to the vehicle.
 2. A clip as in claim 1 wherein the width of the hook-like grasping structure is smaller than the width of the body and the body tapers from the central portion to the hook-like grasping structure.
 3. A clip as in claim 1 and in combination therewith a plurality of pin-like metallic hook-receiving wall restraints each mounted to a vehicle sidewall in opposed positions, and constructed to receive the hook and be grasped by the hook-like grasping structure and the magnet assembly.
 4. A clip as in claim 1 wherein the magnet assembly includes a receiver which the magnet is positioned.
 5. A clip as in claim 4 wherein the receiver has a cup-like shape, is made of steel and welded to the clip body.
 6. A clip as in claim 5 wherein the magnet is fabricated of a ceramic material.
 7. A clip as in claim 1 wherein the magnet exhibits a force of about thirty pounds.
 8. A lading restraining and storage system for use in a lading-carrying vehicle which includes a pair of substantially parallel sidewalls, said system comprising: A. a plurality of pin-like restraint securement anchors, mounted to each sidewall in generally oppossed positions; B. an elongated web-like restraint which extends between the walls, constructed to engage lading in said vehicle and restrain lading from movement; C. a ratchet assembly mounted to the web-like restraint at about the center for tightening the web-like restraint; D. a restraining clip is provided at each end of the web-like restraint for securement of the web-like restraint and engagement with an anchor; E. each clip including a body and a magnet assembly mounted to the body, (1) said body defining: (a) a hook-like structure at one end to grasp an anchor; (b) a slot at the other end, opposed to the hook, for receiving and securement of the web-like restraint, (c) a central portion having a magnet assembly receiving opening between the ends for securably receiving the magnet assembly therein. (2) a magnet assembly for receipt in the clip opening and securement to the body; (3) whereby the hook can restrainingly engage an anchor when the restraint is in use and the magnet assembly can secure the clip to the anchor or vehicle when in a stored or non-use position.
 9. A lading restraining system whereby only one clip is provided at each end of the web-like restraint for securement to a restraint securement anchor.
 10. A lading restraining system wherein two clips are provided at each end of the web-like restraint, the hooks are interconnected by a connector web and the connector web is connected to the web-like restraint. 